Low Level ISEE Reading Practice Test 77

1 A wealthy contributor to the arts,
2 Isabella Stewart Gardner was born in New
3 York in 1840. She married John Lowell
4 Gardner, a wealthy heir, and settled in
5 Boston, Massachusetts. When her only son
6 died as a young child, she devoted her life
7 to the arts. Assisted by Bernard Berenson,
8 a young art critic, she began collecting
9 important works of art. After her husband
10 died in 1898, she purchased land for the
11 construction of a museum and worked for
12 years overseeing its creation. She actually
13 lived in the museum until her death in 1924.
14 Her museum became a gathering place for
15 artists, writers, and celebrities. She was
16 considered quite eccentric, often shunning
17 Boston "society" in favor of more colorful
18 characters. She gave her wonderful museum
19 to the city of Boston, to be preserved as a
20 public museum. Today, if you visit Boston,
21 you can admire the work of Isabella Stewart
22 Gardner.

1. Which title would be most appropriate for the passage?

• A. An Eccentric Woman
• B. Isabella Stewart Gardner—Museum Maker
• C. The Beginnings of a Museum
• D. Two Deaths in a Family

2. In line 17, the word "colorful" most nearly means

• A. beautiful
• B. brilliant
• C. unusual
• D. vivid

3. The passage suggests that Isabella Stewart Gardner began collecting art

• A. after the death of her husband
• B. after the death of her son
• C. to impress art critics
• D. to spend her husband's money

4. According to the passage, the museum built by Isabella Stewart Gardner was used for all of the following EXCEPT

• A. a place for artists to congregate
• B. a place for art to be viewed
• C. a school for aspiring artists
• D. her home

5. The author's attitude toward Isabella Stewart Gardner can best be described as

• A. admiring
• B. critical
• C. jealous
• D. skeptical